


Reaching Red

by Furthermore (TheTartWitch)



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: He just wandered around without Mana, Recruitment, Red is immortal, Red never became an exorcist, Then he gets to the highschool, Timcampy is a dog, all the exorcists are surprised to see him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 00:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5606005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTartWitch/pseuds/Furthermore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red grew up in the circus. He never met Mana, he never became an exorcist, he never battled the Noah. On the other side, however, the Earl vanished and the Noah surrendered and now exist in harmony with the exorcists. They don't ever get any older, so to avoid suspicion they open a high school and pretend to operate normally, but then Cross finds Red living on the streets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I am disappointed to inform you that someone reported my story Introduction to Our World, which was going to be a fic describing the stereotypes concerning different sexual orientations (and lack thereof), and the site has made me take it down. Fear not! I shall still be posting the ficlets as they come, I shall simply have to post them under a different name. If whoever reported that fic is reading this, I'd like you to know it was a very cowardly move and if you had a problem with the contents of the fic then you really should have just messaged me.   
> Thanks for sticking around to read this note!

If there was one thing Red had learned over the many, many years, it was that humans were fragile. They were the insects upon the stones and cobble, Death the boot that crushed them, and he the air that flowed out of the blow's line of sight, never to be truly struck. 

That's not to say he was not mortal; he got cuts and bruises as dark as any other's, and he tripped and sprawled on the Earth as clumsily as a babe, but Death? Death simply could not find him to catch him. He was unchanging in the long run, as stark and pale as that day so many years ago. 

He never stopped moving for very long; every once inawhilea kind human would take him in and keep him company for a while, but none of them lasted very long. Either they found out about his interesting lifespan andphysique and he hadtobe rid of them, or he justleft. He'd lived long enough that money was no longer an issue (human investments were _so_ convenient), and he was comfortably well off, really, but why spend money on the latest fashions when you weren't aiming to impress anyone? It was pointless. 

He lived like cold stone, solid and motionless and smooth to the touch, for a long, long time, and it suited him just fine. 

And then he met Cross.


	2. Cross, Timcampy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red meets Cross and Cross's puppy, Tim. He gets pushed off a bridge and pierced by four earrings in each ear and introduced to school. Perhaps not entirely in that order.

He was sitting on the ledge of his favorite bridge, lounging and watching the water move, when Cross called out to him.  

"Hello!" He said loudly, not sounding very cheerful. "You're going to fall!" He yelled, settling next to Red on the side of the bridge, his arms on the damp stone.  

Red didn't reply, just stared for a moment in a comfortable silence before turning back to the waves.He felt no need to acknowledge the redheaded man's presence until a wide palm set itself on his lower back and pushed, sending him flying into the water below with a squawk.  

He bobbed to the surface and coughed, expelling the water from his lungs and glaring up at the rude man who'd just pushed him off a bridge. 

"Hello!" Cross exclaimed, sounding infinitely more giddy, and Red rolled his eyes upon recognizing a flask held tight in the man's fingers. Harassment by a drunk, was it? "You fell!" The man broke out in braying laughter. "Want to come to my house to get dry? I live just over there, you see, and you're all wet now." 

Red swam to the bank of the river and allowed himself to be manhandled into the man's tiny house. 

(0) 

He slept on Cross's couch that night with the drunken man's dog, Timcampy, who was a rather tiny little golden thing that didn't yap or bark at Red once. Despite being unnervingly quiet, the dog was a wonderful cuddler and made one excellent source of warmth on the couch (which wasn't too uncomfortable, really). 

When the morning came, Red gathered his now-dry clothes from his host's drier. He gave Tim a pat on the head and was almost out the door when Cross yelled soberly, "Boy!" 

He didn't see anyone that could refer to but himself (and possibly Tim, who'd hidden under the coffee table as soon as he heard his master's voice), so he turned back again and retreated to the kitchen, where Cross pointed at a seat and growled, "Sit." 

He sat. It wasn't out of any meekness or fear, but rather simply because he had nothing better to do. Sit on the bridge for another few hours or eat this man's breakfast? Either way he'd have forever to do whatever else he wanted. Why not eat the breakfast? 

"I," Cross began after finishing his eggs, "was drunk. Did I push you off something? I feel like I did." 

Red nodded. "The bridge," he said, pointing with a fork. 

Cross paled. "Are you alright?" 

Red nodded again. Nothing hurt. 

Tim curled up on Red's foot and drooled. 

(0) 

It had been a week since Red ate breakfast in Cross's kitchen, and he was sitting on the bridge again. Tim was snuffling at his hand for treats (which he'd hidden in his back pocket) and Cross was awkwardly introducing him to the idea of school. 

"I mean, I know you're not homeless because you've always got enough money, but are you home-schooled? If not, I'll help you sign up for public school, or private school if you prefer it and can pay for it. You can stay at my place if you've got nowhere to go." 

Red had decided Cross must be drunk. He was never so polite sober. He stared.  

Cross appeared to be waiting. 

"School..." Red murmured, teasing Tim with a biscuit. "Very well. When should I attend?" 

Cross scratched his neck awkwardly. "Well, there's forms for you to sign and tests for you to take so they can put you in the correct grade, so maybe we should go get those today? Just let me get my car?"  

Red frowned. Tim nabbed the biscuit and settled down to eat it. "Are you quite certain it is safe for you to drive while intoxicated?" 

"What? Oh, sure, I do it all the time!" Cross grinned toothily. 

Red felt uncertainty churn his gut. 

(0) 

"You are a RUTHLESS master of the wheel, of course," Red groaned as he clutched his aching stomach. Tim howled from the backseat. 

"I am indeed!" Cross said smugly, honking rudely at several other drivers in an attempt to get them out of his way. 

(0) 

The tests weren't too difficult, in Red's opinion. Cross's incredulous questioning he could do without, however. 

"You speak Ancient Latin and French?" Cross's face was a worrying shade of blue. "You live on a bridge! Where did you learn this?" 

Red frowned at him over the enrollment form. "I used to rest in higher places."  

"What, like Mount Olympus?" 

Red didn't respond, to Cross's amazement. "Are you secretly a billionaire's son?" 

"No. I am the billionaire." 

"That's... impossible. Hey, you can't write that as your name! They'll think you're joking!"  

"It is my name. Red Allen Noah." 

"It's a pirate's name, is what it is. Jesus." 

"You must be sobering up, are you not?" 

"I don’t see how that's any of your business, squirt." Cross cracked open his flask all the same, though. 

(0) 

The school didn't have a uniform, a fact that Red was quite joyous about. They did, however, have a dress code: piercings were allowed but had to be taken out before any kind of physical education, make-up was tolerated (as well as cellular phones, which he didn't have, and gum, which was something Red hadn't heard of), shirts had to end below the ribcage, and shorts had to end past your fingertips.  

All in all, they were rather loose rules. Cross insisted they go clothes shopping, helping him pick out a few 'band' t-shirts and hauling him away from the 'butler's uniform' that he liked. 

"Don't wear shorts." Cross advised. 

"I don't intend to." 

"You should get a piercing or two. With that hair you'd look great." Cross smirked, pointing across the mall at the "Free Piercings" sign. He obviously didn't think Red would agree. 

"Very well." Red allowed, just to catch the man off guard. 

So they got Red some piercings, hoops all the way up his ears that would be healed by the time school returned to session. 

"Great! Now you're ready for high school!" Cross crowed, slipping a few bottles of vodka into the cart. Red didn't ask where he'd been hiding them. 

(0) 

The school was smaller than he'd expected, but then again the town was small. It was made of multi-colored bricks ranging from one in icy blue to several in orange.Some were obviously spray painted.  

Around him, students jostled each other on their way into the school building. Cross was very unhappy with having to leave his alcohol at home and so had taken to tripping the students into the slush and dead leaves of late December (a warm one, if the saleslady at the mall had been correct). 

He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still waiting for your suggestions, folks! I can't continue without your characters! ^^;


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> English class.

"Hello!" 

Red jumped. Turning his head, he noticed a girl with long black hair tied up in purple ribbons was smiling right at him. 

"Hello," he agreed, more subdued. 

"I'm Lenalee Lee, female student body representative! Are you Red Noah?" Her voice was annoyingly perky. He nodded helplessly. 

She grabbed his elbow and began dragging him along. "You don't talk much, do you? Never mind, we'll go right along to the N principal and get your schedule." 

Red ended up standing in front of the tiniest office he'd ever seen. A sign above the door read 'Tyki Mikk, L-R Principal'. 

Cross snorted behind him and he jumped, realizing he'd forgotten Cross was there with him. Lenalee kicked open the door with a foot and they quickly piled in. 

Inside, true to form, it was tiny. Three doorways led off into who knows where, and on one side of the office there was a desk submerged in paperwork. On the other, there was what appeared to be a kitchen area, with a table and a coffee maker. 

A vague crashing sound could be heard from one of the doorways. 

"Mr. Mikk?" Lenalee called, finally releasing Red's hand. "Are you okay?" 

"Is that Lenalee? Where's your brother? I've got a bone to pick with that little-!" 

"The new student and their guardian are here, Mr. Mikk," Lenalee interrupted in warning. There was a sudden silence through the small doorway. 

"Oh?" 

"Yes." 

"I see." A man with long auburn hair twisted into ringlets and pulled up into a bun shoved a piece of paper through the doorway. He felt a vague sense of deja-vu but didn't say anything. It wasn't possible. Was it? "Here you go... Red?" 

"Yes. Thank you." 

"No problem. Have Lenalee give you the  _unofficial_ tour too, okay? You look like you can handle it." 

Lenalee stared at him for a moment before turning to study Red. 

"I heard I had to sign something?" Cross cut in, sitting himself at the table and waving as Red was hauled out the door again. 

(0) 

"So this is your first class," Lenalee smiled, "English!" Red frowned. He already knew English. "Oh, don't worry! The teacher's really nice, and the class itself is pretty easy. You get a journal to write in, a book to read every month, and a partner to have book talks with. Other than that, the only thing you have to worry about is the Novel-Writing Month." 

None of that sounded overly difficult. 

"Alright." 

"Good, so I'll see you later. Wait here for me after class and I'll show you to the next one, okay?" Lenalee waved and took off. "Bye!" 

(0) 

Upon entering the classroom, he finds himself greeted by a cheerful man with long brown hair in a ponytail and a thin scar stretching across his nose. 

"You must be Red!" The man shakes Red's hand. "My name is Umino Iruka, and you may call me Mr. Umino. This is English!" 

Red nods, a bit overwhelmed. He's pointed to a seat in the second row, and as he walks to it he notices several of the students have name tags, including his seating partner. 

Hers says "Miranda Lotto". 

She doesn't look at him as he sits down. Her eyes are fixed on the worksheet in front of her as she works, but her fingers are trembling as she writes. 

"My name is Red," he offers, trying to see if she'll respond. She doesn't. 

His one-year-long experiment is shaping out to be a bust so far. 

(0) 

The boy across the aisle from Red seems determined to make friends with him. 

"I'm Lavi," he says, grinning, and when Red nods politely in response that seems to open the floodgates. 

"Who are you? No, wait, don't answer that, I'll figure it out somehow. Do you see mynametag? Everyone in the robotics and engineering class has one because there was an exhibit today. Do you like robotics and engineering?" 

Red was a bit overwhelmed, trying as he was to complete his worksheet while still listening to Mr. Umino's lecture on the proper use of commas. "Not really," he grunted, biting his pencil as he thought on the next question. 

"Oh, that's too bad. You probably didn't sign up for the class, then, did you?" 

"No." 

"So what did you sign up for?" 

"Art." 

"Oh. I can see that: you holding a paintbrush and..." 

(0) 

As he was leaving English, he sighed in annoyance as Lavi's voice droned on. 

"Lavi." 

"Yes, what is it?" 

"I know you're not in the robotics and engineering class." 

"Huh? How?" 

"Your nametag says 'Rock Lee' on it." 

"Oh. I forgot." 

Red snorted. "Yes, now if you'll excuse me, I'm waiting for Lenalee to take me to my next class." 

Lavifidgetedwith suppressed enthusiasm. "What is it?" 

Red checked his paper. "Advisory." 

Lavi peered over his shoulder. "With Ms. Senju? Oh, great, you'll be with Kanda, Lee, and Naruto!" 

Somehow, that didn't sound so great. 

Lenalee swung around the corner and smiled at him. "Ready to go?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still accepting requests for characters!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to have to include characters from Naruto to bulk up the high school's staff and student body, so just let me know through a comment who you want me to include!


End file.
